Vacuum sealing machine



Aug. 8, 1967 o. BJERING ETAL VACUUM SEALING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed July 16, 1964 w M I',

INVENTOR. @LAV BJI-:RING BY JACK M WHEATON (-Z? z Ca2,Q dd.

Aug. 8, 1967 o, BJERlNG ETAL y 3,334,467

VACUUM SEALING MACHINE Filed July l5, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet @LAV BJERING 4JACK mwHEAToN BYCZZF' MGP@ 4 2lb/M the open end of containers to UnitedStates Patent O 3,334,467 VACUUM SEALING MACHINE Olav Bjering and JackM. Wheaton, Toledo, Ohio, assignors to @Wens-Illinois, Inc., acorporation of Ohio Filed .luly 16, 1964, Ser. No. 383,055 8 Claims.(Cl. 53-88) This invention relates to apparatus for vacuumizing andsealing containers. More particularly, it relates to sealing saidcontainers in a chamber during vacuumizing.

While the apparatus of the present invention may be utilized to seal awide variety of container shapes during vacuumizing, it is particularlyadapted to seal shoulderless containers having substantially verticalwall portions. It can be readily appreciated that where the container tobe vacuumized has an enlarged shoulder, the task of sealing itpreparatory to vacuumizing may be accomplished with relative simplicity.On the other hand, however, considerable diiculty is frequentlyencountered in sealing shoulderless containers preparatory to vacuum-12mg.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide avacuum head adapted to seal shoulderless jars preparatory tovacuumizing.

In the typical vacuumizing operation, a jar, bottle or other containeris positioned with its upper open end in a vacuum head and its lower endsupported on a supporting member. Where the container has a shoulderbelow the open end of the container, the lower end of the vacuum headmay seat on such shoulder to seal olf such open end. A completedescription of this type of vacuum sealing machine may be had byreference to United States Patent No. 2,338,852 or 2,510,457, both ofwhich are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

While the attempts which have been made to seal shoulderless containerspreparatory to vacuumizing have met with some success and have proved tobe workable, the machines which were ultimately adopted were relativelycomplicated and expensive. One example of such machine is described inUnited States Patent No. 2,694,516 which is assigned to the assignee ofthe present invention.

It is another object of tln's invention to provide an inexpensive andyet eicient vacuum head characterized by the provision of a resilientannular sealing ring adapted to be mechanically urged radially inwardlyinto sealing engagement with the wall of the container.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become readilyapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the annexed sheets of drawings on which:

FIGURE l is a sectional perspective view of the vacuum head of thepresent invention showing a container positioned therein just prior tosealing.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view partly in section showing therelationship between the sealing ring, the camming member which urges itinwardly, and the container prior to sealing.

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE l but showing the vacuum head insealing position.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 vbut showing the ring after ithas been urged into sealing engagement with the container.

In brief, the present invention comprises a vacuum head having upper andlower sections adapted to receive be vacuumized and sealed. Secured toone of the sections, preferably the lower, is an annular resilient ringhaving a free standing leg portion formed integrally with the main 4bodyportion. The other section has an outwardly flaring camming surfaceadapted to engage the outer surface of the resilient ring free standingportion to urge the same inwardly into seal- 3,334,467 Patented Aug. 8,1967 ing engagement with the container upon movement of the respectivesections towards each other.

Referring now to the drawings,lthe vacuum head of the present inventionis adapted to receive a jar 10 which is introduced in the lower endthereof by means of a pedestal 12 supported on a shaft 14 which moveswith the vacuum head in rotating about a central spindle (not shown) ina manner shown in either of the above-referenced patents. The shaft 14moves upwardly or downwardly in relationship to the vacuum head. Suchmovement is well known in the art as shown in the above-referencedpatents and requires no further description here.

The vacuum head comprises a lower supporting structure generallydesignated 20l and an upper supporting structure generally designated40. For purposes of clarity, the lower supporting structure 20 has beensectioned with relatively widely spaced section lines while the uppersupporting structure 40 has been sectioned with closely spaced sectionlines. As will become clear from the following detailed description, theupper and lower supporting structures are axially movable relative toone another. Additionally, there is provided a closure applyingstructure generally designated 60 which is adapted to secure a closure16 to the container 10 while the upper and lower supporting structuresarein vacuumizing position, such vacuumizing position being when theupper and lower structures co-act in the manner to be described to sealthe jar 10 from the atmosphere.

The lower supporting structure includes a bell-shaped member genelrlallydesignated 21 which has a lower annular ange 22 and an upper annularflange 23. The upper annular flange is formed with a cylindrical -bore24. The bell-shaped member 21 is supported on an arm 25 projectingradially outwardly from and rotating about the central spindle. It issecured to the arm 25 by any preferred means, as by machine screws 19.Secured to the lower annular flange 22 of the bell-shaped member 21 is asealing member support 26. While the sealing member support 26 may besecured to such lower annular ange 22 in any desired manner, in thepresent embodiment it is shown as being secured by cooperating threads27. Supported from the innermost portion of the sealing member support26 is a sealing member or resilient ring 30. The sealing member supportincludes an annular groove 28 adapted to receive the sealin-g member orresilient ring 30. The lower portion of the annular groove is defined bya radially inwardly extending flange 29 which renders support for thering 30. Additionally, there may be provided an upwardly and inwardlyflaring wall 31 extending from said flange which serve-s to prevent thering 30 from being snapped out of the groove 28 upon its inward urgingas will be described presently.

The ring 30 includes a body portion 32 seated in the annular groove 28and an integrally formed free standing leg 33 which extends upwardlyfrom the inner segment of the body portion 32. As may be seen mostclearly in FIGURE 2, the free standing leg 33 is maintained in spacedrelationship to the sealing member support 26 with an annular gap orgroove 34 lying therebetween.

The resilient ring 30 is sized to receive the jar 10 with the innersurface of the free standing leg 33 being in closely spaced relationshipto the exterior surface of said jar. As a result of such close spacing,inward urging of such leg 33 in the manner hereinafter described willcause such leg to sealingly engage the exterior wall of the jar 10.

The upper supporting structure 40 includes a sleeve 41 snugly receivedin the cylindrical bore 24 and maintained in axially slidablerelationship with the bell-shaped member upper flange 23. The sleeve 41is supported on a pin 42 which carries a cam wheel 43 on one endthereof. The cam wheel rotates in a cam track 46 of a .stationary cammember 44 as the vacuum head rotates around the central spindle. The cammember ad may be supported by any fixed means as by being secured to astationary plate 45 by means of bolts 53. The cam track follows an upand down path around the periphery of the cam member 44. As a result,the sleeve 41 will be in a lowered position during a portion of itsrotational cycle around the central spindle and will be in a raisedposition during other portions of its rotational cycle.

Secured to the sleeve 41 is a cylindrical member d'7 terminating at itslower end in a camming element 48, the lower end of which is sized to bereceived in the annular gap or groove 34 between the sealing membersupport 26 and the free standing leg 33 upon the downward movement ofthe sleeve 41. The camming element 48 includes an end face 49 which issmaller in breadth than the annular gap or -groove 34. Tapering upwardlyand inwardly from the end face 49 is a camming face 50. The breadth ofthe camming element @i8 at the upper end of the cammin'g face 59 issubstantially greater than the annular gap or groove 34. As a result ofsuch configuration and sizing, it can be readily seen that downwardmovement of the camming element 48 causes the camming face 50 thereof toengage the upper edge of the free standing leg 33 adjacent the annulargap or groove 34- and to urge such free standing' leg inwardly intosealing enga-gement with the exterior wall of the jar 10.

Additionally, there is provided a vacuum supply line 51 communicatingwith the interior of the cylindrical member 47 to vacuumize the Spacebetween such member and the open end `of the jar itl during the intervalthat the sealing member or resilient ring 3i? is cammed into sealingengagement with the jar itl. An elongated slot 52 is provided in thebell shaped member lower annular iiange 22 to permit the vacuum supplyline 51 to move relative thereto during the up and down movements of theupper' supporting structure 40.

The closure applying structure 66 includes an annular sleeve 61concentric with and slidable in the upper supporting structure sleeve41. Positioned between the upper supporting structure sleeve d1 and theclosure applying structure sleeve 61 is a bushing 62. Additionally,there is provided packing rings 63 between the respective sleeves 41 and61. Any preferred means (not shown) may be provided to power the up anddown movement of the sleeve 61. Concentric with and rotatable in thesleeve 61 is a rotatable shaft 64 having secured to its lower end aclosure engaging head 65. The rotatable shaft 64 is mounted for up anddown movement with the closure applying structure sleeve 61. Between therotatable shaft 64 and the sleeve 61 is a bushing 66 and packingelements 67.

The closure engaging head 65 includes an annular resilient frictionmember 68 secured thereto in any desired manner, as by a cooperatingbead and groove 69. A series of pins 70 are provided to prevent rotationof the friction member 68 with respect to the closure engaging head 65.The friction member 63 has an annular configuration and is sized toengage the closure top panel near the periphery thereof. The center ofthe closure engaging head 65 carries a magnet 71 which attracts and thusretains the metal closure 16. The lower surface of the magnet 71 is in aslightly higher plane than that of the lower surface of the annularfriction member 68 to prevent engagement between the magnet and theclosure 16 with the resultant marring of such closure.

in operation, the jar is positioned on the pedestal 12 as it rotatesabout the spindle. During such rotation, the pedestal i2 is raised bythe shaft 14 to the position illustrated in FGURE 1. The closure 16 haspreviously been grasped by the closure engaging head 65 which also isrotating with the vacuum head about the spindle. During such rotation,the cam wheel 43 rotates in the cam track 46. As may be seen in acomparison between FIGURES 1 and 3, the cam track 46 of FIGURE 3 is in alower position than that of FIGURE 1. The cam wheel 43 following suchlowered cam track causes the upper supporting structure it? to slideaxially downwardly with respect to the lower supporting structure 26.Such downward movement causes the camming face 5@ of the camming element48 to push downwardly and inwardly against the free standing leg 33 ofthe resilient sealing ring 36 to urge it inwardly, thereby causing it tosealingly engage the wall of the container 1i). During such engagement,vacuum is drawn through the vacuum supply line 51 to thereby vacuumizethe open-topped container itil. While such vacuum is maintained, thesleeve 61 is caused to move axially downwardly `with the rotatable shaft64 to thereby seat the closure 16 on top of the container 16. Rotationof the rotatable shaft 64 in a clockwise direction will cause the thusseated closure 16 to become threadedly engaged with the jar 10. Theresilient friction member 68 permits the closure to be applied with thedesired degree of torque without marring the closure top panel.Thereafter, the sleeve 61 is raised carrying the rotatabie shaft 64 withit. The vacuum is then released, and the upper supporting structure lilis raised to remove the camming element 43 from engagement with the freestanding leg 33 ofthe sealing member Siti.

It can be readily seen that the foregoing invention provides a novel,extremely efficient, and very economical means of sealing preparatory tovacuumizing, containers having no shoulder portions below the finish.Obviously, however, it is not limited to such containers but may be usedwith containers having a wide variety of shapes. More importantly, itprovides a structure which is designated to operate in a trouble freefashion at all times.

Numerous modications will become readily apparent to those skilled inthe art. For example, the sealing member or resilient ring 3@ could besecured to the upper supporting structure itl rather than the lowersupporting structure E@ as described. Similarly, the head could bedesigned so that the upper supporting structure 4d remains in an axiallyiixed position and with the lower supporting structure Ztl subjected tothe up and do-wn movements. It makes no difference which if the upper orlower supporting structure moves so long as there is relative movementto urge the free standing leg of the sealing member 30 into sealingengagement with the jar 10.

Other changes and modifications may be made in this invention withoutdeparting from its spirit and scope which is to be limited only by thefollowing claims.

We claim:

1. ln apparatus for sealing and vacuumizing containers wherein acontainer is positioned in a vacuum head, a vacuum is drawn, and aclosure applied to said container, improved means on said vacuum headfor sealing said container from the atmosphere comprising axiallyaligned upper and lower annular members, one of said members having anannular resilient ring encircling said container in close relation tothe sidewall thereof, said resilient ring comprising a free standingportion having an inner face adapted to sealingly engage said sidewalland an outer camming face, the other of said members having a cammingelement adapted to engage said outer camming face to urge said freestanding portion inwardly, and means for moving one of said membersaxially toward the other member to engage the camming element with saidcamming face to urge said free standing portion inwardly into sealingengagement with said container sidewall.

2. In a vacuum head for sealing and vacuumizing containers wherein acontainer is positioned therein7 a vacuum is drawn and a closure isapplied to said vacuumized container, improved means for sealing saidcontainer dur'- ing vacuumizing comprising an annular resilient ringpositioned to encircle said container at the sidewall thereof, and meansfor mechanically urging Said ring into sealing engagement with saidsidewall, said ring having a bocilI portion and. a free standing portionintegrally formed therewith, and said means for mechanically urging saidfing H'EO Sealing engagement with said sidewall including a Cammngltmtrli adapted. to urge said free standing portion radially inwardlyupon engagement therewith and axial movement thereagainst, and means forimparting relative axial movement between said camming element andresilient ring.

3. In a vacuum head for sealing and vacuumizing containers wherein acontainer is positioned in said vacuum head, air is withdrawn therefromand a closure is affixed to said container, improved means for sealingsaid container during vacuumizing comprising an annular resilient ringpositioned to encircle said container at the sidewall thereof, said ringincluding a free standing7 portion having an inner face adapted tosealingly engage said container sidewall and an outer camming face, acam element adapted to engage said outer camming face to urge said freestanding portion inwardly, and means for moving said cam element intoengagement with said outer camming face to urge said free standingportion into sealing engagement with said container sidewall.

4. In a vacuum head for sealing and vacuumizing containers wherein acontainer is positioned in said vacuum head, air is withdrawn therefromand a closure is aflixed to said container, improved means for sealingsaid container during vacuumizing comprising an annular resilient ringpositioned to encircle said container at the sidewall thereof, said ringincluding a free standing portion having an inner face adapted tosealingly engage said container sidewall and an outer camming face, acam element adapted to engage said outer camming face to urge said freestanding portion inwardly, and means for varying the relative axialpositioning of said ring and said cam element to urge said free standingportion from an unsealed to a sealed position with said containersidewall.

5. Apparatus for vacuumizing and sealing containers comprising a vacuumchamber having upper and lower sections adapted to receive the open endof said containers, a pedestal spaced below said chamber for supportinga container, means for imparting relative movement between said chamberand said pedestal to introduce said container into said chamber, cammingmeans on one of said sections, and sealing means on the other of saidsections for sealingly engaging the wall of said container, said sealingmeans including an annular resilient ring having a free standing portionformed integrally therewith, said free standing portion having an outersurface adapted to be engaged by said camming means and an inner surfacesized to receive said containers therethrough and adapted to sealinglyengage said container at the sidewall thereof upon inward urging, meansfor axially moving one of said sections relative to the other to engagesaid camming means with said outer surface to urge said free standingportion inwardly into sealing engagement with said container wall, meansfor exhausting air from said vacuum chamber while said container issealingly engaged therein, and means for applying a closure to saidcontainer while said container is sealed in the chamber.

6. Apparatus for sealing and vacuumizing containers comprising supportmeans for said containers, a vacuum head for receiving the open end ofone of said containers, said vacuum head including axially aligned upperand lower annular members, said upper member having a downwardly andoutwardly flaring camming surface terminating in an end face, said lowermember having an annular resilient ring secured thereto, said ringhaving a body portion and an integrally formed free standing portionextending generally upwardly therefrom, the inner surface of saidupstanding portion being sized to receive containers in close relationthereto, said free standing portion adapted to be urged inwardly intosealing engagement with said container upon the axial movement of saidcamming surface thereagainst, means for axially moving at least one ofsaid annular members relative to the other, means for drawing vacuumduring said sealing engagement, and means for applying a closure to saidcontainer while maintaining vacuum therein..

7. In apparatus for sealing and vacuumizing containers wherein acontainer is positioned in a vacuum head, a vacuum is drawn, and aclosure applied to said container, improved means on said vacuum headfor sealing said container from the atmosphere comprising axiallyaligned upper and lower annular members7 an annular resilient ring onsaid lower member encircling said container in close relation to thesidewall thereof, said resilient ring comprising a free standing portionadapted to sealingly engage said sidewall and an outer camming face, acamming element on said upper member having a downwardly and outwardlyflaring camming surface adapted to engage said outer camming face tourge said free standing portion inwardly, and means for moving one ofsaid members axially toward the other member to engage the cammingelement with said camming face to urge said free standing portioninwardly into sealing engagement with said container sidewall.

3. Apparatus for vacuumizing and sealing containers comprising a vacuumchamber having upper and lower sections adapted to receive the open endof said containers, a pedestal spaced below said chamber for supportinga container, means for imparting relative movement between said cham-berand said pedestal to introduce said container into said chamber, cammingmeans on said upper section, sealing means on said lower section forsealingly engaging the wall of said container, said sealing meansincluding an annular resilient ring having a free standing portionhaving an outer surface adapted to be engaged by said camming means andan inner surface sized to receive said containers therethrough andadapted to sealingly engage said container at the sidewall thereof uponinward urging, means for axially moving one of said sections relative tothe other to engage said camming means with said outer surface to urgesaid free standing portion inwardly into sealing engagement with saidcontainer wall, means for exhausting air from said vacuum chamber whilesaid container is sealingly engaged therein, and means for applying aclosure to said container while said container is sealed in the chamber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, PrimaryExaminer.

1. IN APPARATUS FOR SEALING AND VACUUMIZING CONTAINERS WHEREIN A CONTAINER IS POSITIONED IN A VACUUM HEAD, A VACUUM IS DRAWN, AND A CLOSURE APPLIED TO SAID CONTAINER, IMPROVED MEANS ON SAID VACUUM HEAD FOR SEALING SAID CONTAINER FROM THE ATMOSPHERE COMPRISING AXIALLY ALIGNED UPPER AND LOWER ANNULAR MEMBERS, ONE OF SAID MEMBERS HAVING AN ANNULAR RESILIENT RING ENCIRCLING SAID CONTAINER IN CLOSE RELATION TO THE SIDEWALL THEREOF, SAID RESILIENT RING COMPRISING A FREE STANDING PORTION HAVING AN INNER FACE ADAPTED TO SEALINGLY ENGAGE SAID SIDEWALL AND AN OUTER CAMMING FACE, THE OTHER OF SAID MEMBERS HAVING A CAM- 